Nearly 80% of Americans Never Use Public Transportation

Whether it’s the price of gasoline, or the CO2 emissions and their threat to the global climate, there are plenty of reasons for people to consider public transportation. Unfortunately, the United States is not a leader in this important part of a sustainable approach to modern living.

Nearly 80% of Americans Never Use Public Transportation.

That’s from recent polling data from Pew Research. Another 10 percent used public transit once or twice a month, and the last 11 percent used public transit at least once a week.

National Geographic looked at 17 nations in a study called the Greendex. Among other things, they looked at each nation’s use of public transportation. The United States came in last in public transportation… but also last overall.

Contrary to popular belief, China is at the top of the Greendex. While China’s overall CO2 output is higher than the U.S., according to the EPa, that is the result of their population being more than 4 times that of the United States. Per person, China is far better than the United States in these measurements of environmentally friendly behavior.

Here’s a look at how some of these nations break down in terms of mass transit use.